


A Healing Touch

by wickedorin



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: AU, Androids, Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, android gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-11
Updated: 2013-05-11
Packaged: 2017-12-15 05:58:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/846100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedorin/pseuds/wickedorin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written as a fill for a drabble request on AwaitingMassProduction: "Argente+Kurou+Kotetsu; angst/hurt comfort; Kurou gets  damaged/incapacitated somehow and Kotetsu calms Argente while panicking  himself. How Kurou gets hurt up to you."</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Healing Touch

**Author's Note:**

> There's an explosion and "android gore". And some aaaaangst. So, uh... be warned?

There just hadn’t been time. No warning signs, no signals, nothing out of the ordinary or in the least bit unusual—  
  
And then the explosion. It had been something closer to “instinct” than anything else, Kurou’s internal warning system sending out a danger and distress signal to HERO TV even as he moved in front of the humans—  
  
Human and clone, respectively. Unarmored, easily harmed, in need of being shielded. Those were the only things he _knew_ at the time, the only details that he could absolutely process.  
  
The rest was overcome by a torrent of damage reports, flickering sensory information, and a most unpleasant flood of data. Kurou only knew that his internal gyroscopes were being ignored, that he’d lost balance and somehow fallen at some point, but there’d been no effort made to automatically readjust. Something was wrong, something—  
  
“You okay?” It was always Kotetsu’s first concern. “Everyone okay?”  
  
Argente was _shaken_ , to be sure, but even so. “I’m f-fi— _Kurou!_ ”  
  
 **Situation: negative.** The android did not intend to lie; so he avoided the subject of his own damage altogether. “Argente, Kotetsu. Get to safety.” There was no certainty of anything at all in that moment, least of all how stable the buildings around them were, not to mention any potential pillar destabilization. His visual sensors were recalibrating, but the data was having a difficult time getting through because of that sensation flood.  
  
Pain. It almost seemed to be a different _kind_ of pain, a different structure and an unfamiliar intensity, focused mostly in his legs.  
  
Oh. His legs. No wonder he’d been unable to right himself immediately.  
  
Argente had already noticed. There wasn’t _blood_ , of course, but there was some oil, exposed wires, torn metal. The synthetic skin hung around the wounds in slowly sealing tatters, having nothing to heal _over_ “Kurou. Oh, fuck, _Kurou_ …”  
  
“I will be fine.” He was grateful for the word “fine” covering a wide area of circumstances. He would recover, after all. Nothing in his core had been damaged. But for the moment, he didn’t _feel_ particularly fine. The sheer amount of data streaming in was making it nearly impossible to shut off his physical sensation processes. He just needed a moment to let it pass, to let the data calm. “Please, stay safe. Kotetsu, take him—”  
  
“We’re not going anywhere without you.” The Hero stated so matter-of-factly that he could hardly be argued with. “You protected us, so it’s my turn. Okay?”  
  
Kurou wondered if he should have argued. If he should have at least tried to offer a word of assurance to Argente, that the Heroes knew and were on their way to make sure no one else was in danger. When Kotetsu powered up and lifted him, however, all of his though processes seemed to shudder to a most _unpleasant_ stop.  
  
It was a horrible noise. Kotetsu couldn’t even begin to figure out _what_ it was, sounding a little like the time he’d heard a truck grinding against a guardrail at 70 MPH, but there weren’t any cars around them. Even the HERO TV helicopter wasn’t close enough to hear yet, so why that awful sound was so close… He realized what the noise actually represented too late; pain. Kurou was crying out in pain.  
  
That realization was almost enough to make the Hero _drop_ him, but luckily he managed to keep his focus. “Okay. Okay, easy there. I’m gonna put you down again, alright? We’ll… well, I’m not sure, but we’ll figure this out.” All that was playing through his mind was a constant string of _fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck_ to the rhythm of his heartbeat as he set the android down as gently as he could manage.  
  
“What’s wrong? What’s happening?” Argente looked every bit like he was trying to curl into himself, arms wrapped tightly around him with his knees bent and shaking, barely standing, knuckles white.  
  
He looked exactly like Kotetsu _felt_ , but knew he couldn’t possibly express. Taking a deep breath and trying desperately to keep his hands from trembling, he reached for his phone. “I’m calling Saito. He’ll bring the transport, that’ll get him through traffic faster.”  
  
It wasn’t a help. It didn’t explain why Kurou was just _laying_ there, why nothing was being done for him _immediately_ … “What good will that do?”  
  
“He’ll know what to do. He has to be here.” _Because we don’t know what we’re doing_ , he wasn’t willing to say. Phone to his ear, he crouched more out of not wanting his legs to shake than to really get a better look at the android, but the reasons were roughly equal in his mind. “Saito, we— Yeah. Now. Kurou’s hurt. I just… yeah. Good, see you.” Snapping the phone shut, he couldn’t help but notice oil leaking from the… _holes_ where the android’s feet and the rest of his legs ought to be. Kotetsu winced to notice it. Gore was gore, biological or otherwise; it was uncomfortable. But to know that the android was in _pain_ … “Hanging in there, Kurou?”  
  
The answer didn’t come at first. There were a good few _seconds_ between the question and stuttering response. “Y-yes. S-Saito… c-ming?”  
  
“Yeah.” He waited just a few seconds, feeling his power fade and giving a little sigh when it happened. It was instinct to reach out, to lightly ruffle Kurou’s hair. “He’ll be here soon, okay?”  
  
But there was another aching sound then, Argente’s legs having nearly given out underneath him. It hadn’t quite been a sob, but it _felt_ like one, a sound of worry and anger and sickness—  
  
Kotetsu recognized it, was the thing. That was enough to get him to stand up, to take those couple of unsteady steps toward the clone, hands on Argente’s arms more to hold him up than anything else. “Hey, Argie. Look at me, huh?” Those eyes were just too distant, too far away. “Look at me. It’s okay. Kurou’s going to be okay.”  
  
At least the clone’s eyes focused, even if they were quite clearly wet. “What if he’s not? What if he… I don’t want to be alone.”  
  
The Hero felt his heart clench as much as his stomach, wrapping his arms around Argente without thinking. By reason of balance or maybe it was just finally time for their legs to collectively give out at once, the both of them collapsed on the ground, their knees probably taking a bit more damage than either of them were able to focus on at that moment, but it was alright. He could hear the helicopter then, hear the distant sound of traffic that was either other Heroes arriving or Saito. Either way, really. “You won’t be alone. And he’s… he’s gonna be fine, anyway. Aren’t you, Kurou?” He hoped the android was still _conscious_ … or at least coherent. He didn’t really know if an android could be unconscious…  
  
“Y-yes.” The sensation, the _pain_ , would not stop dumping data, processing, hardly letting any other processes through the chaos; but he was paying attention. “I-I will b-be. F-fine.” He didn’t necessarily need a full override, just needing a break in the data to get the sensation to stop recording, stop taking over all of the RAM…  
  
“Come ‘ere.” Kotetsu wasn’t really sure if he was talking to Argente or himself more, but it didn’t take too much effort to make their way closer to the android. “Hold his hand, okay?”  
  
“Me?” Argente asked in a tiny voice, thin and fragile.  
  
“Yeah. It’ll help. Promise.” The older man said with the best smile he could manage. Kurou had made the point that he was an android, that he wasn’t as easily harmed as a human, could be _fixed_ … but that was before pain had become a factor.  
  
While the look he gave Kotetsu was skeptical, Argente was willing to try. Reaching for the android’s hand, he was certain that he was grasping on too tightly, but… Kurou was grasping back.  
  
Unexpected warmth, unexpected touch; it was enough. The secondary sensation had managed to serve as enough of an interruption to allow him to shut off the offending process, ending the data flood. It was still a good few seconds later when the other processes returned to normal, but the situation had already vastly improved. “I apologize, Argente. I am unable to safely return the gesture. I have managed to temporarily disable my sensation—” While he couldn’t _feel_ what had more or less become a messy, tight, slightly awkward group hug, the effect of it was obvious enough in his general system diagnostic readings. “Returning this gesture will have to wait a bit, as well.”  
  
“That’s fine.” The clone whispered. “Fine, just… it’s fine, yeah.”  
  
Kotetsu’s laugh was just a bit suspiciously quiet. “And I see the transport. Doc’ll take you two back to the lab and I’ll change into my suit and stay here, yeah?”  
  
“You would rather stay?” It wasn’t as though Kurou felt offended about the decision, really. He was still concerned that he may have landed improperly on the Hero, that maybe Kotetsu required at least a quick look-over to be certain he was as alright as he claimed… but then, the android did know his origin. There was no arguing.  
  
The man’s smile was a lot more honest that time, giving a nod. “I know Saito’ll fix you up. And this is… you know. This is what I _do_.”  
  
“Yeah.” Argente responded with a little chuckle, notably staying at Kurou’s side. “It is. Thanks.”


End file.
